Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Would You Blog For $76,622 A Year?

Anyway, we here at HouStoned are a nosy bunch, so we sent a message to METRO a couple of weeks ago to find out just how much its “communications Web log specialist” was pulling in. We’re old friends, so we were a little surprised when the transit authority made us file the request under the Texas Public Information Act.

Ten days later – wait for it, wait for it – we got the goods.

METRO’s blogger makes $76,622 a year. Yep, that’s right: Seventy-six thousand, six hundred and twenty two dollars a year. One more time, for the English-impaired: Setenta seis mil, seiscientos veinte dos dólares.

– Manages the research and development of content for publication of product, services and public information.

– Writes, edits, proofreads, and copyedits material being presented to the public via the blog-based communication network.

– Works in conjunction with IT to develop and maintain standards for the blog-based communication network.

Now, unlike HouStoned, I don't think whether a position is taxpayer-funded or not should have anything to do with how the pay is set: "A (wo)man is worthy of his (in this case, her) hire," or not. The job demands that pay or not. Most important, the worker insists on getting that, or not, and the hiring party agrees, or not.

No, what I am struck by is that the job description, as outlined in the pdf and certainly including the items highlighted here, is stunningly close to the one I have for just ONE (the biggest, true, in terms of amount and scope of work) of my current clients. Except that I also have things like press releases, and monthly newletters, and PowerPoint presentations, and flyers and other stuff written in mine. Oh--and along with "the IT guy" I am actually involved in designing the whole portal website, building and loading the content, and ... oh, you get the drift.

I make nowhere NEAR that amount. Granted, there's a certain personal commitment component, because we're talking non-profit. And it's not everyday you get the opportunity to bring something into the 20th (not a typo) century. But still, the bottom line is: